Glimpses

Chapter 37

December 1st, 2021

The sky was the shade of blood orange, little by little growing darker, as Logan made his way down Walbridge Road, the concrete plates under his Icebugs not really being his surface of choice for running. Sometimes he missed London's parks just for this tiny detail. The air was icy, below freezing, and his every exhale let out a visible puff of air. He liked the briskness though, the way this activity cleared his head after being slouched in front of his laptop for a whole day. His home office really got dull after a long day.

There weren't many runners out and about in weather like this whom he'd grown used to seeing in the previous weeks. That too had been a pleasant interaction, a quick nod, or exchange of a few phrases when it came to someone he recalled once having worked as a valet at the country club and provided him and his buddies with weed and now lived at the building next to his. Clearly that guy had risen up from that kind of life and worked some white collar day job. Things like this made him think about what people thought about him. Without knowing his story would they think he'd failed? Made a mistake? Had a drug problem? Hit rock bottom? He didn't see it himself, but he almost wanted everyone to know that he was happier like this, hence he tried to smile when he saw people.

There were still the dog-walkers of course - Logan noticing mostly the dogs not their owners - the labradors, a couple of Jack Russel terriers, the majestic hounds, a sheepdog, a beagle, even a pompously groomed poodle. He now noticed every small bark, owners training their dogs for obedience, some still teaching their puppies to walk besides them and treating them with snacks every now and again. He also began to notice the different personalities the dogs had.

It was like playing dog-Tinder, wondering which one of those dogs would suit him, both appearance- and personality-wise. It was a little like trying to imagine oneself at different professions as a child, not that he'd really had much choice in the matter himself.

The idea of a dog, an idea that was perhaps slightly childish, naive and overly simplistic, hadn't really disappeared from his mind since it had popped into his head the first time. He didn't want to explain this to Rory, worrying that she might think he was being negative or setting them up for failure, but in a way the idea of getting a dog in his mind worked as an insurance policy. That if he screwed up or this wonderful world that he was creating shattered, even if it happened for reasons that were beyond him, not daring to hope too much, he'd have at least this loyal four-legged creature to keep him going.

He also knew of therapy dogs, having seen them used quite a lot in London, dogs that helped people with anxiety or simply dogs that hung out at the offices so people could de-stress in their presence during their breaks.

So far the only negative that he'd thought of was the limits it would set to his traveling. Josh was allergic, so leaving the dog with Honor was out of the question. But sure, one could pay to have someone look after the dog and there were dog hotels as he'd already found out after several hours on the internet on the topic. But he wanted more of a companion dog than someone he'd have to leave at the apartment all alone. But he realized that if there ever would be a baby, things would be more local either way for him. He could only really speculate, not having a lot of insight.

Strangely enough he almost expected someone to make fun of him for wanting something as simplistic like dog. It was like a kid wanting a pet for Christmas. Like he was reliving some of the things he's childhood had lacked.

Logan reached Elizabeth Park with its reddish gravel, having run to another area of town that night, letting Rory have her peace with her extensive workload that evening, realizing that he was out a little late for this particular trail choice due to the lack of street lights. But it wasn't the first time he jogged in the dark and most of the way pollards separated the road from the path he was running on, so it wasn't a big deal and he made a mental note to take another route back that was lit.